Competitiveness analysis of grassland tourist destinations based on a structural equation model taking Sayram Lake and Narati Grassland as examples

With the rapid development of grassland tourism, setting up a system to evaluate the competitiveness of tourism destinations based on tourist perception is conducive to improve the level of competition in the tourism industry, and has a reference significance for its development. This study establishes a structural equation model based on tourist perception. Empirical research was conducted taking Sayram Lake and Narati Grassland in Xinjiang as examples. Confirmatory factor analysis, validity test, and identity test were applied to prove that the theoretical model of tourists' perception is stable across samples. The mean structure model showed that the tourist perception of Sayram Lake is superior to that of Narati Grassland in terms of touring perception, service perception, environment perception, and image perception, and the differences were significant. By measuring the interaction between grassland tourism and tourists, the research idea of “Tourist Perception–Tourist Attitude–Tourism Destinations Competitiveness” can be confirmed. Among them, service perception had the most significant impact on tourists’ attitude, which shows that the grassland tourism destination management should focus on improving the quality of service. Touring perception, environment perception, and image perception affect positively. Application of this model can help tourism destinations suggest improvement measures corresponding to their own disadvantages to enhance their competitiveness.